Well it's been a little while; let's see what's happening, shall we?

This 3200 Year Old Tree Is So Huge It's Never Been Captured In A Single Image.  Wow, how cool is that?  247 feet tall with a 27 foot trunk.  The little red dot near the base is a person :) 

The case of the missing 777 is becoming more and more interesting.  It seems unlikely that the plane just crashed - but on the other hand, where is it?  Philip Greenspun considers stealing and stashing a 777.  The map at right shows all the possible landing places within 3 1/2 hours of the plane's disappearance, but of course we'd know if it had landed at any of them. 

Here's a cool theory: maybe Malaysia Air 370 disappeared using another 777?  Apparently it would increase the possible locations.  It sure seems to fit the otherwise weird behavior of running off course in one direction for so long, then reversing back in the other before vanishing.

So, is the era of Facebook an anomaly?  (Based on everyone showing up in the same social space.)  I think it was kind of inevitable, given the strong network effect.  Imagine how difficult it will be to displace it.  (Look how hard Google have tried with Google+, and how ineffectual it has been...) 

Glassholes: at least you know who they are.  Ah, but do you know who they really are? 

Microsoft CEO Nadella may unveil Office on iPad.  Awesome.  I knew he was reading my blog :) 

And so, if Office were available, would I use it?  The answer is, it depends... with Apple's Pages, Keynote, and Numbers I have three "Office" programs which interoperate with Office pretty well, and which have UIs which are designed for a tablet.  Microsoft will have to do at least as well.  But they could!

The Billion-dollar telescope race.  Excellent.  I love "big science"!  My money's on the TMT, pictured at right.  Weirdly this article does not mention Caltech, only that both the TMT and GMT projects are "headquartered in Pasadena", and not even in connection with the Palomar Observatory. 

Speaking of big science, it looks like Gravity Waves have been Detected.  Wow!  First the Higgs Boson, and now this.  It does seem like the Big Bang Theory is on firm ground :) 

Onward!